Deluxe Medium Format Stereo

[P3D <LeRoyDDD@xxxxxxx>]

     In PHOTO-3D digest 1891, George Themelis said:

"Just saw the medium format stereos in Expo.
And was blown out of the water!!!

HOW CAN I GET STARTED IN MF-3D???"

     George, you've got to do it correctly... I recommend the Mamiya Stereo
Seven.:=)

     This consists of two Mamiya 7s joined together to give five stereo pairs
56x69mm on 120 film. The joined 35mm panoramic film adapters provide about
nine 24x65 image pairs on regular 36exp 35mm film, an image aspect ratio of
1:2.7... this'll look great on the NSA screen!
     Interchangable lenses allow you to shoot for expected viewing conditions
or for effect. The 43 or 65mm lens images will be great in the viewer and the
80 and 150mm ones will be excellent for projection and portraits.

     There are some minor disadvantages... Mamiya has not provided a stereo
projector similar to the RBT or a mounting system which holds both images in
a single mount. I'm not sure if there are automatic 6x7 projectors suitable
for dissolve projection, though I think there are A-V projectors for 6x6.
     So if you want to project conveniently, you might want sacrifice the
"wide" format and go with the Mamiya Stereo Six, similar to the Stereo Seven,
but with the square format. Slightly less expensive on all counts, too.
     At present, to have a really good viewer, you'll have to build your own,
perhaps with interchangeable lenses.

     My minimum recommended system will cost:

                   Stereo Seven  Stereo Six(MF)  Stereo Six

Mamiya bodies           3700          3400           2720
65mm or 50mm lenses     3200          3200           3200
Panoramic backs          420           360
Good viewer              300           300            300
Splicing Charges        2000          2000           1800
Total                   9620          9260           8020

     Mamiya 7s are beginning to be discounted... 6s definitely are and are
also coming on the used market, so you can do better than the prices above.

     Ok, I just got too depressed to calculate the cost of projection with a
screen large enough to do the images from this system justice.

     A more reasonably priced joined/twinned system, still good quality, can
be had with Mamiya C330 Pro TLRs for under $600 for the cameras with 80mm
lenses. And I think Sputniks go for about $250.

     If anyone actually joins Mamiya Sevens and I can find a cheap airfare, I
just might pay a visit to view the camera and the images(especially if you go
deluxe and pop $5000 for the 43mm lens set and build a good viewer for those
images!) :=)

LeRoy Barco
LeRoyDDD@xxxxxxx


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